Autumn and the Anticipated Return of the Pumpkin Spice Lattes

Fall is here! Finally, it feels exhilarating to pull out the boots, sweaters, and scarves, drink a pumpkin spiced beverage, and relax on the couch while a fire quietly kindles in the fireplace. Autumn is without a doubt my favorite season: going to my high school football games on Friday nights, the excitement leading up to Homecoming, Halloween, scary movies, buying more cable knit sweaters, apple picking, pumpkin carving, pumpkin bread, endless candy binges, and not having an overbearing amount of homework. The leaves are getting crisp and changing color as much as they can in terms of southern California conditions, but hey, we'll take what we can get.

Fall is also that time of the year when I will gladly make bi-weekly Starbucks runs in my support of their perfect fall flavors. The famous Pumpkin Spice Latte and Salted Caramel Mocha's are both back for a limited time, and both undeniably complete the season (for me).

Interestingly, Pumpkin Spice Latte's are a huge phenomenon, even in our local community, as my mother noted that she heard a Starbucks customer get upset over the fact that there was a pumpkin spice shortage. Apparently  these shortages have been numerous across the U.S. as they made headlines, but these "crises" were soon averted. This past August, Starbucks had a competition where various locations competed on Facebook where the city with the most points for the various competitions gained early access to Pumpkin Spice Lattes at their shop.

There is a special time of the year for the small town of Pumpkinville, Virginia  called PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latte) Days, where the entire town prepares for Starbucks' debut release of the drink. Ladies get together to dye their hair orange temporarily at the neighborhood beauty parlor and girls compete in orange dresses for the "Sweet P"SL Pageant while the community celebrates the annual return of their favorite fall beverage.

Whether or not you consider yourself a "fall" person or not, I highly recommend a trip to Starbucks for a Pumpkin Spice Latte (or frappuchino!) to give your taste buds the delectable spices of pumpkin, cinnamon, and cloves, where your drink will be sweet, spiced, and everything nice.